Footwear and heel therefor



March 21, 1950 A. L. GRAVES 2,501,508

FOOTWEAR AND HEEL THEREFOR Filed April 19, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Inventor Attorney March 21, 1950 A. L. GRAVES I 2,501,508

FOOTWEAR AND HEEL THEREFOR Filed April 19, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Inventor Attorney Patented Mar. 21, 1950 assists FOOTWEAR AND HEELTHEREFOR Alfred Leslie Graves, Somerset, England, assignor to C. & J.Clark, Limited, Somerset, England,

a British company- Application April 19, 1948, Serial No. 21,995 InGreat Britain April 25, 194? 6 Claims. I:

This invention relates to boots and shoes, hereinafter generallyreferred to under the term footwear and to attachable heels therefor.The invention has reference to footwear in which at least the inner sideof the heel is extended forwardly to afford support for the underside ofthe arch of the foot.

One object of this invention is to increase the usefulness of footwearfitted with an extended heel by incorporating in the heel means forcounter-acting the, tendency for a weak arch to bulge inwards.

A further object of the invention is to provide a heel for footwearwhich extends forwardly to afford supportlfor the underside of the archof the foot and also to afiord side support for the inner metatarsal,internal cuneiform and scaphoid bones forming the part of the arch whichlies on the inside of the foot.

The improved heel according to the invention is primarily intended to besupplied to retailers and repairers of footwear as separate units in arange of sizes so that where the wearer of the footwear is subject to ordevelops a tendency to a weak arch or similar ailments the whole or apart of the heel normally fitted to the footwear by the manufacturer maybe removed and one of separate heel units according to the presentinvention attached in place of the removed part. The improved heelaccording to the invention could also be fitted by a manufacturer inlieu of a heel of normal form, particularly by makers of surgicalfootwear.

An embodiment of the invention in the form of an attachable heel unitwill now be described, by way of example, with the aid of theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the heel,

Figure 2 is a side view looking in the direction of arrow II, Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a side View looking in the direction of arrow III, Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a front view looking in the direction of arrow IV, Figure 1,

Figure 5 is a rear view looking in the direction of arrow V, Figure 1,

Figure 6 is an inverted plan view looking in the direction of arrow VI,Figure 2, I

Figure 7 is a view of the inside of a shoe intended for the left footshowing the heel unit attached in place of a heel of normal form,

Figure 8 is an inverted plan of the shoe with the heel unit attached,

Figure 9 is a fragmentary view of the underside part I.

of .a shoe beforethe heel unit has been attached, and.

Figure 10 is a cross, section On, line X-X of Figure 7 The heelillustrated in the accompanying drawing may be considered broadly ascomprising threeparts, a rear, part I approximating in shape to a heelof. normal form, a forwardly extending wedge part. 2 and an upwardlyextending protruberance 3. Theupper face of the wedge part 2 constitutesa continuation of the upper face of the rear. part i and the whole ofthe upper face itapers in thickness in a longitudinal direction, thehighest point being at the rear extremity of In any plane parallel tothe longitudinal centre of the heel the face 4 is substantially straightwhilst in any transverse plane the face l is concaved, as indicated inFigures 4 and 10. The wedge part 2 is confined approximately to the halfof the heel which when fitted to the footwear would lie on the insidethereof and the side face 5 of the wedge part i extends abruptly fromthe front face 6 of the rear part I. The forward nose end I of the wedgepart 2 is radiused and the front extremity 8 of said nose end I iscontinued up to form the front of the protruberance 3. This protuberance3 takes the form of an upstanding wall, the outer side face 9 of whichis vertical and constitutes a continuation of the side face iii of therear part I, the curve of face 9 blending smoothly into the curve offace it. The wall 3 is of wedge form in transverse cross section andtapers up from a thick root to a comparatively sharp ridge II. The ridgeH of the wall 3 has an outline approximating to half-pear shape, thecurved front portion of the ridge ll falling away from the crest morerapidly than does the curved rear portion thereof. The inner face l2 ofthe wedge-sectioned Wall 3 is of convex form. In plan the wall 3 narrowsgradually toward itsrear end until the convexed face l2 meets the outervertical face 9 at the dropping ridge I l, and the wall 3 may be madeslightly thicker at or near the centre of its length than it is at thefront face 8 and a cushioned effect may be obtained by forming in theupper face l of the heel a recess I3 having an outline approximating inshape to that of the heel. To facilitate attachment of the heel a numberof blind holes l4 extend in from the flat underface E5 of the heel (seeFigure 6). The sizes and relative proportions of the various parts ofthe heel unit may be varied according to requirements. The heel unit isconveniently made of moulded rubber within which a metal insert of anysuitable form may be embedded to act as a strengthening means.

In Figures 7 and 8 the heel unit shown in Figures 1 to 6 inclusive isshown applied to a shoe intended for th left foot, the heel unit beingattached to the undersole a of the shoe by means of the rear part I withthe wedge part 2 extending forwards to provide support for the arch ofthe foot, especially to the scaphoid and the internal cuneiform bone andwith the upstanding wall 3 lying alongside of the shoe upper b and incontact therewith to provide a side support for the inner metatarsal,internal cuneiform and scaphoid bones formin part of the arch of thefoot. When the attachable heel unit according to the invention is to befitted to an existing shoe of normal form the heel built on to the shoby the shoe manufacturer may be removed entirely as shown in Figure 9and a widening bevel d cut on the sole edge to allow the heel unit to beat- M tached with the wall 3 fitting snugly against the upper b asindicated in Figure 10. The heel unit is attached by means of screws orof nails e hammered into the holes I4.

I claim:

1. An attachable heel for footwear, said heel comprising a rear partapproximating in shape to a heel of normal form, a wedge-shaped partconstituting a longitudinal forward extension of said rear part and onthe inner side of the heel so as to extend beneath the arch of the footwearing the footwear and an upwardly extending side wall adjacent theouter longitudinal side of said forward extension to constitute a sidesupport for the foot wearing the footwear.

2. A heel according to claim 2, wherein said side wall extendsrearwardly on to the rear part of the heel.

3. A heel accordinng to claim 2, wherein the side wall is of wedge shapein transverse section and tapers up from a thick root to a comparativelysharp ridge.

4. A heel according to claim 2, wherein the side wall tapers inthickness in a longitudinal direction, with the thicker end thereofdisposed at the front thereof.

5. A heel according to claim 2, wherein the contour of the ridge of theside wall is shaped to follow the curvature of the bulging upper of thefootwear to which the heel is attached.

6. A heel according to claim 2, wherein the inner face of the side wallis of convex shape in order to fit snugly against the upper of thefootwear to which the heel is attached.

ALFRED LESLIE GRAVES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 872,413 Grossman Dec. 3, 19071,809,405 Ehrenfried June 9, 1931 2,095,488 Cobb Oct. 12, 1937 2,297,552Hansen Sept. 29, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 148,020 GreatBritain July 29, 1920

